Lean On Me
by kalakat08
Summary: Nico feels it's his turn to comfort Jason, Rated T for mild swearing, cover art by Minuiko


_So obviously we don't know what happens in Blood of Olympus so maybe Jason's whole issue with Hera was settled, I guess this could be considered an AU. Please favorite and review, also check out my other jasico stories. _

Nico was sitting on his bed reading when Jason came in, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Hey," Nico said without looking up from his book. It had become a sort of ritual for the son of Jupiter to visit him at night, whether to check on him or just to talk.

"Hi," Jason responded, walking over to lie next to Nico on the bed. He groaned as he flopped down, jostling the mattress and causing one of the pillows to fall off.

"Easy there, Sparky…" Nico murmured, putting his bookmark in the novel and setting it gently on his bedside table. Jason laughed and stretched out his arms, taking up a large portion of the bed.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"Pretty good," Nico sighed, laying down beside his friend, "No one spit on me today," he joked.

Jason frowned, he hated when Nico made those types of sarcastic comments, then rolled his eyes, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine…" Nico said, moving Jason's arm so it became a makeshift pillow. He closed his eyes and waited for Jason to start grilling him with questions, _did you eat lunch? What did you have? Who did you talk to today? Were they nice? How long were you outside for? Did you Iris message Hazel? _Random crap like that. He was surprised when the blonde stayed silent next to him, staring holes into the ceiling. Looking at him up close, Nico noticed the dark circles under his eyes, the way his forehead creased like he had been thinking too hard, and how he reflected this stressed energy.

"Are you okay?" Nico asked quietly. When he still got no response he asked again, "Jason, are you alright?"

"What?" Jason's head snapped over to look at a concerned Nico, and a forced smile formed on his lips. "Yeah, I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"You just look...rough. And you zoned out for a good two minutes there, is something wrong?"

"No, no, everything's great."

"Jason, just because you take care of everyone elses problems, doesn't mean you can't have some of your own." Jason's fake smile fell from his face and his eyes drained of mock happiness.

They lay in silence for a while as Jason tried to regain his thoughts. Nico was patient though, waiting for him to figure out what he wanted to say.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Jason finally whispered, his blue eyes anxious as they met Nico's black ones. The son of Hades snorted, "Are you kidding? You seem to know all of mine, it's about time I heard one of yours."

The corner of Jason's lips twitched up for a second before settling back into a tired frown. "So you know how I decided to stay at Camp Half Blood instead of returning to Camp Jupiter?"

Nico nodded.

"Well, Hera- or Juno, whatever- she's not that happy about it."

"Why does her opinion matter…?" Nico questioned, momentarily confused.

"You know, she, "owns" me, or some shit like that." Jason had propped himself up on one elbow and was now looking down at the younger teen. "Anyway, she keeps pestering me to go back to Camp Jupiter, saying it's where I belong and that I shouldn't even want to stay with the Greeks. I don't think she realized when she switched Percy and I how fucked up we would both get- or rather, how fucked up _I_ would get. She's also still _really_ pissed about the whole praetor thing, how that was my 'legacy' and I shouldn't have given it away to Frank." Nico hadn't ever seen the former Roman so worked up before, normally he kept his cool and tried to figure things out logically, but he'd obviously been keeping this to himself for a long time. He'd also never heard Jason swear before, but he secretly found it amusing.

"Does Piper know about this?" Nico asked.

Jason sighed and ran a hand over his face. "No...I want to tell her, but she always looks so sad when I mention going back for a visit, I think she's scared I'll want to stay. I just don't want to worry her, you know? Its not like I'm gonna leave, I choose to stay here for a reason..." he said the last part in a weird way, like he had repeated that a million times before to reassure himself.

"But?" Nico prompted. Jason stared at him, then the door, then back at him again.

"Well, what if Hera's right?!" he exclaimed, gesturing at nothing, "I'm never going to fully belong here, at least with the Romans I blend in more. My whole life was there, I spent what, a couple months at Camp Half Blood? I grew up at Camp Jupiter, it's- was my home. I was never supposed to stay here, Nico, I've messed everything up. " The way he said the speech gave the impression that Hera had been drilling it into his head every time they met. Knowing the gods, she probably came to Jason in his dreams and lulled him to sleep with her manipulations.

"Jason," he started softly, sitting up next to the son of Jupiter, "what do _you _want?"

He looked confused, "That's not really the most important factor here."

"What are you talking about?! Of course it is, Jason. It's your life, not hers. If you're happy here, which I know you are, then you should stay. If anything I'm the one that doesn't belong-"

"No, Nico, we've been over this-" the blonde immediately began, already starting in on his lecture.

"Shut up for a second! It's my turn to comfort you," Nico snapped, silencing the hero. "Why do you always do this? Why do you put the needs of others before your own? If you're unhappy, Jason, you need to fix things so you are. I know you think her opinion matters, and I suppose you do have a unique situation, but she needs to get over it and let you do what you want."

"It's not that easy." Jason mumbled.

"I know, and it probably never will be, but you need to start thinking of yourself, Jason." Nico felt good that for once it was him comforting Jason, not the other way around.

The son of Jupiter sighed and collapsed back down onto the bed.

"So, what am I supposed to do?"

"Next time you see her tell her you're doing what makes you happy." Nico paused before adding, "Or you could compromise, spend some time there, some time here. And you should tell Piper, if she's worried you'll leave her than she can always come with you." Satisfied with his advice, Nico nodded his head to himself and laid down again next to Jason. The blonde hero had returned to staring holes into the ceiling, this time with more purpose. He kept opening his mouth then closing it, like he wanted to say something but didn't know how to get it out. Finally he turned his body so he was facing Nico, his lips curved into a smile.

"Why don't you let people see how awesome you are?"

"Don't want to raise anyone's expectation..." He muttered.

Jason's eyes searched his face, "Can I ask you for something?"

"Anything," Nico responded sarcastically.

The son of Jupiters smile grew as a he sat up from the bed and pulled Nico up with him. As the younger teen was about to complain, _excuse me, I was very comfortable there_, he noticed Jason's arms extended out beside him.

"You want to hug." Nico didn't say it as a question, but more as an annoyance. Jason bit his lip and nodded his head, already moving in towards his friend. Sighing dramatically, the son of Hades allowed Jason's strong arms to wrap around him and squeeze him against his warm chest. He cautiously brought his own arms up to link around the blondes muscled back. He nuzzled his face against Jason's neck and breathed in the smell of soap and summer rain. Although he pretended to hate it, Nico secretly loved the hugs he got from Jason. He only allowed two people to touch him; the guy currently holding onto him, burying a hand in Nico's silky black hair and holding him tightly in their embrace, or his sister whose sweet hugs bitterly reminded him of the old ones he got from Bianca. Clearing his throat, Nico tried to pull away but wasn't released from the son of Jupiters grip.

"Ugh, Jason?"

"Hang on, this is the longest you've ever let me touch you," Jason whispered into Nico's ear.

"Alright, you made it weird."

"Hey, it's either this or I get to serenade you." Jason chuckled.

Nico paused, "What song?"

"I was gonna go for a classic, _You've got a friend in me-" _The blonde started to sing as the son of Hades groaned loudly in annoyance.

"_Lean on me, when you're not strong, I'll be your friend-" _Jason sang, changing the tune.

"I swear to the gods, if you start singing every single hit song about friendship I am going to kill you." Nico muttered, feeling the way Jason's back shook as he laughed. Nico pulled away from the Romans embrace and tried to fight the smile playing at the corners of his own mouth. Jason was grinning like an idiot, and it made Nico remember the fake smile he had tried covering up with earlier.

Nico did not like that smile.

"Bedtime," Jason practically sang as he stood up from the bed and began walking to the door. He had gotten better at picking up when Nico wanted him gone or when Nico wanted him to stay the night (to help with nightmares).

"See you tomorrow," the black haired boy called, picking up his book and settling back down into his bed.

"Nico?"

"Yeah?" He asked, as Jason hesitated in the doorway.

"Thank you...for your advice, it was really helpful." He said with this genuine smile that somehow always made Nico feel like a bad person.

"Anytime." Nico grinned back at him, knowing it probably looked really forced and creepy. But Jason seemed to like it, his eyes lighting up before stepping outside. Nico heard the door shut and he scoffed to himself before returning to his novel. Jason always acted like he needed to be the one cheering Nico up, making the son of death feel happy. In reality, Nico would be just fine and it was Jason's turn to get the help.


End file.
